#『 interactions : bren. 』

[hello-eeveev]

you wanna know what’s so funny is that we’re all like “omg Essek could NOT shut up about Caleb 🥺💕” but like. he absolutely can.

the only times Essek brought up Caleb unprompted/without relevance to the discussion at hand were gesundheit and nighttime sendings lol. of the four uses of the phrase “my partner,” one is an off-handed mention as part of a clarification (“I have not been following the Assembly’s threads; that was more my partner’s purview.”) and the last three all happen in the span of four minutes before Essek exits the episode.

the problem is that within those last four minutes, Essek hit us with

1) showing off a zemnian phrase he learned from Caleb,

2) “he is kind. and he is smart. and he is so strong,” said with such conviction and pride and love that I don’t think I’ll ever recover, and

3) leaving the crafting party to chat with Caleb before bed

which was just. a lot. it was so much and it was so good. so much concentrated shadowgast in those four minutes

this whole ship is built on layered conversations and implications and skirting the obvious (with the exception of the last two minutes of m9 reunited) so to give us four whole minutes of Essek boasting about Caleb, praising Caleb, wanting to go talk to Caleb was particularly potent

thank you Matt Mercer for my life 💕

[shrugsinchinese]

Doodles for the wonderful fic The Heart External by @beatriceeagle!! Give it a read, it’s so good

[wyvernspirit]

Wish there was more fics that explored the fact that residuum comes from Whitestone

Cause let's be honest "Percival tortured as a teenager Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III" would NOT be happy to find out Trent Bitchface is using Whitestone resources to torture teenagers

I also just want to see Percy and the Blumenthal trio (and Beau) talk 👉👈

I like seeing my fav characters interact with each other sue me

[drkroots]

@rubiesintherough said: [ 09 ] sender comes to receiver with an injury in a location they cannot easily reach. ( Bren / Shannon )

          the big askbox clean out

               "How in the hells did this happen?" Words were spoken as gashes on back became clear with blood soaking through shirt. "Tell me exactly what happened." The tone was stern as the baby wrap she was wearing was adjusted to keep tiny dragon close to her. "Every detail so I know whether my healing touch is going to be enough." Forest witch reached towards the gashes, but made no actual gesture to remove his shirt just yet. "Mundane or supernatural?"

[astravates]

for @sanguisarcana || scourger bren (baldur's gate 3 verse)

It had been years since Bren set foot upon the bustling streets and felt the blistering sunlight of Baldur's Gate's undercity. Air thick with the scent of spices and sweat as people bustle about their daily lives, their voices blending into a cacophony of noise around him. Despite the chaos—or perhaps because of it—it is surprisingly easy for Bren to blend in and go unnoticed amongst crowds. Though rumors of past mind flayer attacks and dragon sightings still linger in the minds of those along the Sword Coast, such things have little relevance to the task at hand.

Fashion Couture.

Nestled along the western side of Baldur's Gate, sits a quaint clothing shop with its elegant windows closed shut and adorned by billowing curtains. Bren straightens his shirt and brushes away the dirt from his pants before running a hand through his unruly mop of short ginger hair. With a huff of a sigh, he enters the shop, filled with rows of neatly displayed garments and the sweet scent of perfumes and fabrics.

Cerulean eyes clock him immediately, like a predator tracking its prey, a pale elf with snow-white curls upon his head. Bren boldly strides towards him, clearing his throat to announce his presence before approaching any closer. “Hallo,” he greets the elf, accent thick but full of faux charm, “I am looking for a new coat… I don’t suppose you would be able to help with that?”

[the-peglar-ever]

Did I miss preparations for a carnivale? Wow.. I missed a lot..

[wizardnuke]

yalls tags on the caleb astrid post are all SO spot on thank you for understanding the uh. canon that was given to us. not saying that anyone doesnt. but i am.

[brennacedria]

need to write a dream where character is only witnessing, not interacting. I'm pretty fucked, huh?

edit to add: I've even looked up tips for writing dreams. they're all "be vague and disjointed and sometimes passive voice is good because of the circumstance" and I'm just NOT THIS MUCH PASSIVE VOICE IT'S GOING TO BE A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE CHAPTER

[notashrew]

Speaking of OCs

I was explaining about some of my old forgotten ocs to a friend this other day and was reminded the ones I used to hold close(-ish) (Sebastian, Moxel, Casper and Mortuus). And yeah sure I've been thinking about trying to redraw them just to see how much I've imporved in art skills (dunno about Casper and Mortuus tho since I haven't drawn dogs in ages ages ages).

But also got to thinking, how would Sebastian who was my dearest back in the day think and react if he saw me now? After what, years? How I've grown from when I was in secondary school, how I ended up and what am I now? How I'm now older than what I made him back when I was younger than him? Even if he wasn't there when I was having it hardest.

I think he'd be happy for me probably.

[sassy-cass-16]

look man. look

essek saying "bren" out loud, claiming a position on caleb's side as the mouthpiece of his regards to astrid, did something to me. i can't tell if it opened a wound or punched me or gave me a hug. all i know is that i am feeling so many emotions right now

more under the cut because i'm about to get rambly:

"bren aldric ermendrud" is a separate character from caleb widogast. he's a young boy learning how to make magic. he's a deeply traumatized and indoctrinated teenager. he's the boy who curled up with astrid and eadwulf in a freezing tower for warmth all night.

essek never met bren. he met caleb and he's never known him as anyone else. if i'm remembering correctly, caleb never even said the name "bren" to him during the campaign, and neither did any of the nein.

essek knows caleb widogast. he knows the man who held up the object of his worst crime and then kissed him in the bowels of a ship and made a floor of infinite stars for them to walk through together. he knows the person who healed over bren's wounds—thinly, but enough. he knows the man that the boy has become.

astrid knows bren. she barely knows who caleb is. she still calls him bren after hearing him referred to as caleb repeatedly. she can't know him as the man he is, she only knows the boy. there's some of bren in caleb, but there is no caleb in bren.

essek saying "bren sends his regards" is him gauging astrid's reaction, on one level—if she freaks out, which she did, she's in opposition to caleb's cause and thus a threat. on another level, it's essek delivering a very different subtextual message from caleb: "the boy who loved you is giving you one final warning."

because essek is a threat to astrid. their last meaningful interaction was slinging spells at each other in the blooming grove. and that's funny in a "current boyfriend vs ex girlfriend exclusively fight each other" kind of way, but it's also deeply tied to caleb's recurring theme of transformation. "bren sends his regards" also means "i have healed enough to love enough for someone else to know this name and use it with my consent. and this someone else is your enemy. what does that make you think i've become?"

it also does a fantastic job of communicating subtle offscreen discussions that have happened over the years since the end of c2. we don't have the details of when or how caleb told essek his birth name, but we know that he did, and we know from all of c2 that the name bren occupies a place of immense emotional weight for caleb. it functions similarly to a deadname in terms of who uses it and for what purpose. trent exclusively calls caleb bren to wound him and place himself in a position of power. astrid calls him bren to remind both him and herself of who they used to be—same with eadwulf, though obviously he's not here.

the first time we hear essek say "bren" is on caleb's behalf and confronting one of the narrative representations of caleb's trauma. it's four words that manage to communicate "i, your enemy on a hundred levels, can speak for both the man i love and the boy who loved you, because i know him in his entirety."

astrid knows bren and essek knows caleb, but only essek can speak for both. because at some point, caleb gave bren to essek. and we know this from four words. four IMPROVISED words.

god. this moment is just so fucking good

[callsign-rogueone]

an unexpected visitor

cadet!Brennan Sorrengail x cadet!reader words: 1.6k 🏷: sfw (taking a break from the overdue kinktober stuff!), canon-typical injury, why do rider cadets always try to kill each other at 3am, you get stabbed, sorry, but Bren mends you up, no pronouns used for reader but you wear feminine pj's and smell like flowers <3, bren just met you but he's already down bad, naolin cameo, marbh is sassy, i just love writing lil cadet bren.

“Find Brennan Sorrengail.”

It takes you a second to place the name -- the boy in your year with the mending signet. The general’s son. He’s not in your squad, or even in your wing, so he has every right to put you out of your misery — but something is screaming at you that you can trust him, that he’ll help you. He wouldn’t have become a mender if he didn’t have a good heart, right? Surely he wouldn’t leave you to die, or finish you off himself to thin the herd.

You’ll die without his help anyway, so it’s worth a shot.

“You are not dying today. I will not allow it.”

“How exactly are you going to—”

The door swings open, and you thank the gods that you remembered which room was his. 

He’s visibly confused, probably because he doesn’t even know your name, and you’re knocking on his door at three in the morning in negligeé. He blinks at you once, twice, about to ask why you’re here — and then he spots the knife currently sticking out of your ribcage.

“Please,” you rasp, clinging to the doorway with a bloodied hand. “Wasn’t gonna make it to the healers…” 

He doesn’t hesitate, tossing his own blade aside, yanking a towel down from the hook by the door and throwing it over the bedspread, guiding you to lay down with a gentle hand on your elbow. 

You cry softly as the movement shifts the knife, and he murmurs an apology as you lay back, helping lower you down. Your eyes lock with his, and for a moment you’re entranced by the flickers of emotion in them, the minute movements of his pupils as he takes you in… you've never seen anyone with irises that color, such a warm, rich amber.

He pulls away first, focusing back on the issue at hand. “Can I tear this? I’ll fix it later.”

It takes a second for you to realize that he’s talking about your shirt. “Sure,” you wheeze. 

He hooks his fingers into the split from the knife and pulls, the fabric ripping easily. He’s quick to drape another towel over your chest, letting you keep some decency. 

You really should have chosen better clothing — you’re a little embarrassed to be laying on his bed in a now-shredded pink satin teddy and a tiny pair of shorts, but in your defense, when you got out of bed to relieve yourself, you didn’t think you’d be getting into a knife fight, and then knocking on a near-stranger’s door to ask him to save your life. 

He doesn’t seem to care at all, more worried about the wound than anything else. He’s not telling you anything, but the crease between his eyebrows and the tone of his voice as he mutters a few colorful words gives it all away. 

“Is it bad?” you rasp.

“The blood is bubbling. That means the knife went through your lung.”

“Oh,” you say hollowly. Talking is agonizing, but you feel the need to fill the silence, to make this interaction any less awkward. “This is my first time being stabbed, so…”

He huffs out a laugh. “You’re doing great. It’s serrated, so it’s going to do more damage coming out than it did going in, but I should be able to fix it. It might scar, though. I’m not that good yet.”

“I’ll take those odds.”

“I need two hands for this, so I can’t block the pain.”

“Just do it,” you beg, tears already flowing down your cheeks. “Please.”

He settles a warm hand on your side, wrapping the other around the hilt. “Ready?” 

“Yes, please just get it over with—” you try to muffle your scream with your hand, but it still slips out into the air as he starts to ease the knife back out, the jagged edges ripping your skin further.

“I know, I’m sorry,” he soothes, his thumb stroking over your rib as he continues to pull slowly, slowly… then there’s a clatter of metal hitting the floor. “It’s out.”

You almost regret asking him to remove it. The cold air of the room hitting the inside of the wound feels like your skin has been lit on fire, and somehow breathing is even more difficult than it was before; the blade was plugging the hole in your lung, and now it feels like you’d just accidentally inhaled half a glass of water. You bring an elbow up to cough into, your eyes widening as you realize that the metallic taste in your mouth is blood — and the warmth pouring down your side, too.

“Fuck, okay… I’m gonna try to fix it now. Just hold on for me. Try to relax.”

You sob in relief as the pain dulls, squeezing your eyes shut and trying to focus on anything other than the burning feeling in your lungs, and not being able to breathe. 

Layer by layer, the wound joins itself back together, leaving only a pink scar behind. Your breaths even out, your eyes fluttering shut and your posture relaxing.  “That’s it,” he soothes. “I’m almost done.”

You don’t respond, and he realizes you’re unconscious. Not an abnormal reaction to having such a serious wound, but a slightly inconvenient one: he can’t ask you what happened, or if you have any other serious injuries. 

The fabric slowly stitches itself back together, the bloodied patches disappearing along with the dried blood coating your skin. The stained towel and the red under his fingernails are the only evidence that anything had happened. That, and the bruise on your arm — though that looks to be a few days old. 

Whoever attacked you must have snuck up on you, thinking one quick stab would finish the job. If they were coward enough to take such a cheap shot at someone in the middle of the night, they’re probably dumb enough to think that would kill you. He wonders if they met their demise, and they’re currently laying dead in the hallway, or if they made an escape. You probably didn’t let them get away with this. You don’t seem like the type to run away from a fight, especially when the other person struck first, and when you’d shown up at his door it didn’t look like you were being chased, either. 

He fades away the bruise and a papercut on your finger, admiring the softness of your skin against his. You’re warm, which is a good sign that you didn't lose too much blood. 

You look quite comfortable laid out on the side of his bed, your head resting on your arm and your legs tucked up toward your chest. You probably aren’t going to wake up any time soon. It’s nearly four in the morning, anyway, and you need as much sleep as you can get after tonight’s events. 

He carefully climbs in on the other side, giving you plenty of room, and pulls the blankets over the pair of you. You stir, burrowing down into the warmth with a soft, content sound. 

He watches you for a moment, comforted by the steadiness of your breathing. Might as well get some sleep, he decides — formation is in less than three hours.

———————————————————-

Thankfully you’re an early riser. The only thing that could make this any more awkward would be if he had to wake you up. 

You yawn and stretch, cracking an eye open to see that his face is only a foot away from yours. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he replies, a light blush covering his cheeks. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, I don’t have a knife sticking out of me anymore, so pretty good.”

He exhales in relief. “I was worried that you wouldn’t remember, and then this would be super awkward.”

You laugh, sitting up. “Thank you for saving my life and letting me crash — and I’m sorry. It was pretty dumb of me to walk down the hall without a knife or anything. I thought we were safe now that we’re bonded, but I guess not.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault, it’s theirs.” He pauses. “Did you…”

“No,” you answer. “I didn’t kill him. Just knocked him out.”

Him? Brennan’s jaw clenches. “Was it that prick from third wing?”

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess. He seems like the type to go after someone unarmed and unaware. Especially someone half his size.”

You snort. “Seeing the look on his face at formation is going to be so fun.”

He blinks at you, questioning how calm you’re being about this. You take advantage of his stunned silence, leaning forward to press a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you. I owe you one. Two, really.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he manages. 

You swing your legs over the edge of the bed, making a graceful drop to the floor and bending down to pick up your slippers -- he’d straightened them up for you. How sweet. You spot the knife on his desk, nodding toward it. “Do you want this, or can I keep it as a souvenir?”

“You can keep it. You earned it, after all.”

“Good point. Thanks.”

He keeps his eyes on the wall as you slip out the door, trying to look at anything except the amount of skin that shows in that little pajama set you’re wearing.

As the door closes behind you, he can hear you greeting someone -- not embarrassed at all to be walking down the hall in your pajamas, your slippers in one hand and the dagger in the other.

He flops back down onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling and replaying the interaction in his head, analyzing every word for any hint of deeper meaning. 

“Good morning.”

He jolts upright, snapped out of his thoughts. “Gods above, Marbh,” he pants, recovering from the shock. 

“You’re going to be late.”

Is it possible for a dragon to sound smug?

There’s a knock at the door before it opens -- Naolin. “Why aren’t you dressed?” He sniffs once, twice, his eyebrows creasing in confusion. “And why does it smell like rose petals in here?”

[shadowgast-recs-weekly]

Scourger/Evil AUs!

This week, we're getting a little twisted with some scourger/evil AUs. Enjoy nine AUs where the nein don't really play much of a part. Check them out beneath the cut, and don't be shy about letting the authors know if you liked them!

let it blaze alight by GammaRey (7386, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Ballroom meetcute, but Essek is also a vampire and Caleb is on a mission.

Reccer says: It is so hot, and I love how Caleb is portrayed.

play with fire by mllekurtz (4749, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: None

Essek hates parties, but at least there’s an interesting conversation to be had with one of the Cerberus’s liasons.

Reccer says: Wonderful snark, intrigue, and tension unraveling into a hot unexpected sending. Part 1 of a fantastic series, birds of prey.

zwiefacher by VillainIHaveDoneThyMother (118 171, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Rape/Non-con

Bren didn't totally break down and grow as the assistant of Trent. He met a drow at the Martinet.

Reccer says: Scourger!Caleb but he is not evil, he just didn't have the opportunity to flee the grasp of Trent. He still has a kindness that is misused by the repeated intervention of Modify Memory. Essek is the prisoner of Ludinus, and it is very interesting to see them interact with the swapped power imbalance (from the canon).

you're in my veins, i'm chained, to your pain radio by allmadeofstardust (18117, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

An unbroken Bren meets a jaded Shadowhand. The two of them could topple entire governments. They could make two whole nations bend to their will. But something might get in the way.

Reccer says: I wrote this! I am very very proud of the way I integrated the twist into it, and I loved playing around with how even at their utmost worst and ruthless, these two still find a way to fall in love and see each other as they can be. Dark and dastardly with a sliver of hope.

portraiture of a drow by burningafterdark (burningdarkfire) (2108, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

The Shadowhand has never been surprised by Bren Aldric Ermendrud.

Reccer says: Based off of an amazing piece of art, they're both so fucked up and horrible for each other (affectionate)

Inciting Incident by thetickingclock (983, Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Referenced Child Abuse

Essek says, “I think we’ve met before.” The Scourger in the cell lifts his head. That shock of red hair is so bright in the dark. “Have we?”

Reccer says: It's twisty and fragmented and upsetting in the best way

half light by prolix (21853, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Under-negotiated kink

(From the author’s summary) On the brink of war between the Empire and the Dynasty, Essek is visited by a Scourger tasked with assassinating him once his use runs out.

Reccer says: Beautifully written, EXCELLENT characterization - only two chapters posted and I am HOOKED. Bren has Essek on his toes and hackles raised, and Essek surprises Bren with his reactions.

tether essence by Laeveteinn (16331, Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn, Dubcon/Consensual Non Consent, Self distructive behaviors

Each time Essek returns to his towers, he searches them for new evidence of Dwendalian trespassing. He catalogues every rumpled cushion cover, every ink spot, every dunamantic text left slightly out of place. It is, he imagines, not unlike coming home to another person.

Reccer says: Romantic and really fucked up, like a cat leaving you a dead mouse in your bed (but also romantic)

And then two recs for this last one:

a body in absentia by nonwal (103601, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes, Choose Not to Warn

Scourger Bren decides to seduce the Shadowhand and finds that the best way to convince someone to be vulnerable with you is to be vulnerable in turn

Reccer 1 says: I liked it! Reccer 2 says: Honestly, this is probably my favourite scourger au fic. Bren is fucked up the characterisation is all on point. And the M9 there are also great.

Want more? Well, we did a previous scourger/evil AU reclist back in March 2023, so you can check those out!

This is one of our weekly communally-generated shadowgast rec lists. Every week we announce a new theme and allow anyone to submit a fic recommendation. 

And hey, anyone includes you!

Next week, we'll have a Christmas Eve (or 24th) with Professor Widogast!

Any fics coming to mind? Well, then use this form to submit!

[bellestarot]

Quick Tarot Celeb Readings V

May 23, 2025

Some questions are straightforward and require less time to answer. That's why I created this to make it easier.

🌞 "Wonyoung and stray kids hyunjin pls"

🌹They have no connection at all — no friendship, no romantic involvement, nothing.

🌞"Did Twice's Sana dated an Exo member? If yes, can u give a hint about him? Thank you"

🌹No, she has never dated any EXO member.

🌞 "Who is the closet with jungkook between yugyeom, eunwoo, and mingyu?"

🌹It's somewhere between Yugyeom and Mingyu, but Jungkook seems more closer to Yugyeom — he trusts him more.

🌞 "can you read the chance of jk having a public relationship this year/next year? thank you"

🌹Very unlikely to happen. It's basically a no. He knows the kind of headache it could bring, so he's very careful. His priority is his work.

🌞 "Do you see exo reuniting for a comeback or at least a concert in the future? 😭🤧"

🌹It's a bit hard to say for all the members. It's unlikely they’d all agree to do the same thing. A reunion or a comeback seems difficult.

One member might not want to perform or reunite, and others might prefer the freedom of solo careers or different projects.

Group activities can be overwhelming, but there's still a real possibility, even with disagreements.

🌞 "Do you see Lisa being nominated for the Emmy’s or the chances are really small? If she got to be nominated, how so you see the general public reacting? Because like, she was barely on screen and the time she was on wasn’t that amazing to be nominated…."

🌹The chances are very low. It’s unlikely she’ll be nominated, especially since there’s a man around her who doesn’t support her. He believes she fits better in the music industry than in acting.

It might be surprising if it happens, but it's doubtful.

🌞 "Are eric from the boyz and han from stray kids still friends? They used to be close but lately there haven't been any interactions between them so I'm wondering"

🌹No, they’re not close anymore. There's no connection between them.

It seems something happened that made them suspicious of each other. Over time, they chose to distance themselves. Both have strong personalities.

🌞 "Hi, is lisa and frederic relationship genuine or it is more like business/PR relationship? thanks"

🌹It’s genuine, and they love each other. They have a normal relationship.

🌞 "What's the relationship between Lee Know (skz) and sullyoon (nmixx) like?"

🌹There's no connection between them. No relationship, not even a friendship. They don’t seem close at all.

🌞 "hi, recently armys have discovered that Youtube has been manipulating/limiting BTS’s views on their platform. it also seems that they’ve bren shadow-banned for a while. could you do a reading to see if BTS or Bighit (their company) know about it? if so, is there anything being done about it? will their views on Youtube get better in the future?"

🌹Yes, they’re aware of it, but it’s not new. This issue has come up before. The company won’t take any action, and they seem calm about it. Views are likely to improve in the future.

🌞"a reading between jimin x song daeun please, are they still dating? thanks!"

🌹It’s a very complicated relationship. They like each other, especially Jimin. There’s romance, but it’s full of ups and downs. They probably break up and get back together often. It’s a cycle, not a healthy one. She might even be cheating on him and hiding it. There are major issues in this relationship.

🌞 "does hanni and yunjin still talks?"

🌹Yes, they’re much closer than people think.

���� "Hi, can you do a reading about if yeri and johnny ever dated or had a fling? Thank you"

🌹No, they’ve never had anything going on.

⋆｡‧˚ʚ🍒ɞ˚‧｡⋆

[hello-eeveev]

I’m rotating the “his name is Bren, and he is very intelligent” scene in my head again, but not for the reason you think.

Essek’s vibes in that scene are very different compared the ostensibly similar interaction from episode 95: Essek makes passing reference to a partner, Bells Hells inquires further, Essek answers. But while his response in e95 exudes warmth and affection, now he is strangely… matter-of-fact? oddly serious? distracted? without apparent cause for this change.

I used the transcript version to label the scene, but in reality, the cadence is more like, “His name is Bren. And he is, um… very intelligent.” And during that pause, his brow furrows and he looks down, and his face stays there for the rest of the sentence and halfway into the next one.

I’m struggling to triangulate the tone of voice because it’s not quite dismissive, but it does seem like he is trying to sate their curiosity and be done with it, which is, again, quite unlike how he spoke about Caleb in e95.

Then he sighs and says, “I’m sorry. If my anxiety shows, there’s something about—I dislike not knowing what’s coming, especially given the stakes […]. There are few things I hate more than not knowing.” And I thought that was interesting because 1) relatable, but more importantly 2) he made a mental jump over the course of that sigh and I needed to know what it was.

It’s an easy enough conclusion to come to: his vibes were off because he was anxious. He’s anxious because he’s dealing with a lot of unknowns.

It’s a small character detail and it’s not new, but this instance of it has been spinning in my brain all day. Essek shutters himself a bit when he’s anxious and in new situations. He isn’t necessarily short in his answers and he doesn’t quite have a flat affect, but there is an emotional shuttering. I’m not sure if he’s cutting himself off from his emotions as well or just others—that could be an interesting facet to explore—but it makes him hard to read and he comes off weird. And I love it, it’s such a tasty character beat om nom nom nom

And! While I think it was pretty obvious that he was doing this conscious letting down of walls a lot as he befriended the m9, look at how quick he is now to articulate what’s happening and adjust accordingly! It’s still a little awkward and disjointed, but he’s been practicing over these seven years!!! I’m proud of him!!!!

[umtrem]

ALL-NEW VENOM #4 SPOILERS

ok, I actually had to read this issue because well... Flash Thompson is here and I'm just living up to my obsession. so, uh, here we go I guess

Let's start with the fact that Flash is doing his best to keep Toxin and Sleeper, who have been arrested, safe. Although he has made some deals, he doesn't seem to have kept any of them.

It's really cool to see that he's feeding them. And Toxin doesn't look too good and is worried about Bren, which is fair enough since they get along well as host/symbiote.

Okay, Flash, you could have been less of a jerk about that. I still can't believe they made him say something so insensitive. Well, be an idiot, but be a quiet idiot please.

I have nothing to say about this entire panel. I'm just very sad about this situation...They are being treated like prisoners ready to be deported or worse, and THIS IS CRUEL. Toxin just wants its host back.

I can't describe Flash's reaction to hearing this. It's hard to say. He's still very lucky, or almost. A little, at least.

And I wonder why he still keeps his friends at bay. I mean, ever since Venom War and that short interaction with Peter, they haven't spoken. And then... well, it seems complicated that he's in this situation now and trying his best not to screw it up.

Sleeper 'chilling' like a normal cat. Of course, he has a plan I imagine, after all, he is one of if not THE strongest symbiote on Earth and one of the most intelligent too. Well, that's for later.

This lady is a complete symbiote hater. and Flash is defending the symbiotes, as he should!!

and... oh I have so much to say about this...

This lady wants to exterminate the symbiotes and arrest their hosts, worse, she wants to ARREST THREE CHILDREN for having been hosts of symbiotes.

That's the deal! Flash is at least trying to keep the kids safe from getting arrested, I understand why he needed to send Dylan to MJ since she's a superhero now and it should be easier for her to deal with the situation, although it is not easy. (Paul is still the problem, we can't forget that)

and I want to add that... this lady is completely crazy. she is blackmailing Flash using Dylan's security... Well, when this run started, I imagined that he would go after Venom to find out where they were and who the new host was to help Dylan in some way. I just didn't imagine it would be under threat...

and then let's go a little further forward that, honestly, I don't care so much about Madame Mesque being evil and working for Modok.

so the cool part is that Sleeper is controlling Rick Jones. they are Sleeper Agent, now!

and it's adorable that they went to Venom's rescue. yeah that's adorable

but ok, overall this issue was short and didn't have much of Dylan, I missed him :((

it explained a few things. and no mention of Eddie and his side adventure which is curious to me.

Well, I don't know what to expect from the next issue, we'll have the reveal of the host who is (please, I hope everyone who said it was Paul is wrong). and I don't know, maybe a hunt?

I just know that all of this is terrible.

I hope Dylan shows up next time.

[codicies]

It's pretty neat that Venom (both the character and the book) is finally addressing Sleeper's unethical method of interacting with hosts.

Considering what we know about the character dynamic between Venom and MJ thus far based on interviews, I wonder if the big theme this run is going to be "what kind of relationships do we have with our humans?"

Sleeper doesn't trust hosts, probably due to its trauma from watching Tel-Karr kidnap and abuse Venom. So it takes full control and refuses to make any kind of emotional connection for fear of being stuck with an abuser, too. I don't know much about Rick Jones, but I think he might actually be a perfect match for Sleeper. If he can just get it to communicate with him, he might be able to earn Sleeper's trust.

Pat Mulligan was killed by Blackheart because he wanted Toxin. Bren Waters was almost killed because Toxin got him involved in something much bigger than both of them. Toxin forms very deep emotional connections, and doesn't handle separation well. I doubt it ever really worked through its grief after Mulligan died, and now it's forced to lose another beloved host to keep him out of danger.

Dylan's a slightly different case in that he's not symbiote with a host, but he's a symbiote hybrid who hasn't quite reconciled with his human half. When he discovered he was half-symbiote, he was homeless and on the run, isolated from almost every human connection he had. Symbiotes were the only consistent company he had, even after reconnecting with Bren and Normie. I think a big part of this run is going to be Dylan trying to remember how to be human.

And of course, there's the relationship between MJ and Venom. Neither of them wants to be here but they're stuck together, and have to work together to figure out what that means for them and what is the healthiest way forward for themselves and Dylan.

Hell, even Paul works in this theming. He's the only human who doesn't have a close symbiote connection. What does all this mean for him now that he's learned his girlfriend is one of them, too?